Defiant Clarke faces calls to resign

	Allen Stanford shares a joke with Giles Clarke last June © Getty Images

Giles Clarke has found himself at the receiving end of much criticism in the light of the news about Allen Stanford, raising questions about his current position as ECB chairman.

Although he was only last week re-elected unopposed for a second two-year term, his close relationship to Stanford has already caused a raft of negative media comment in the UK. And his critics in the cricket world have wasted no time in taking swipes at him.

"In any normal organisation the chairman's position would be untenable in these circumstances," Neil Davidson, chairman of Leicestershire and a vocal opponent of Clarke's during his recent re-election campaign, said. "Clarke is the architect of this deal, not David Collier [the ECB chief executive]. A lot of us felt it was an error of judgement to get involved with Stanford and while we can't prejudge what will happen, those views seem to have been vindicated."

"We need to understand who knew what and who did what and that's an internal matter which we need to get to the bottom of ... my understanding is that Giles was very much at the forefront of this deal."

Lord Marland, the former Conservative party treasurer who failed in his bid last week to usurp Clarke as ECB chairman, echoed Davidson's views. "The ECB has walked into the open arms of a man who has now been charged with fraud. What due diligence was carried out? The picture of Clarke, Collier and Stanford standing behind all those dollars will haunt English cricket for a long time. In any other organisation, heads would roll."

And Hampshire's Rod Bransgrove, a constant and vociferous critic, said that he "always thought the whole association would crumble as soon as the ECB chairman election was over and Clarke was reinstated".